Imperial Tanks
While the Empire is better known for its mecha divisions, more conventional vehicles play no small part in the Imperial military, and the Empire has its own fair share of tank designs, which are prevalent throughout its military. Type 48 Kazan Tank Prior to World War II, the Japanese had little to no experience in tank design or in armoured warfare. Nevertheless, the Imperial military needed a medium tank of its own. The Japanese would need to develop their own indigenious tank production capability if they were to hope to be able to modernise their army. They succeeded in coming up with the Type 48 Kazan Medium Tank, a vehicle that has a reputation for being one of the worst tanks fielded during WWII. Simply put, the Kazan was hopelessly behind the times. Its armour protection, which would have been considered average during the 1930s, was woefully inadequate by the 1950s, ineffectual in the face of Soviet 76.2mm guns, nevermind larger weapons such as the 107mm or the colossal 180mm. The 37mm main gun, while performing decently against unarmoured vehicles like trucks, lacked the calibre and muzzle velocity to be able to effectively combat heavily armoured Soviet tanks or even many vehicles, with shots usually glancing off the thick armour of Soviet tanks. The only notable part of the Kazan was the interior, which featured crude electronics. However, these ultimately did little to improve the Kazan's performance, and only managed to add to the cost and complexity of the vehicle. In addition, for all the equipment to work, power would need to be diverted from the engine. When the Japanese intervened in Korea, the first and last deployment of the Kazan tank proved a major embarrassment. It was completely retired from service shortly after, even though this would leave the Japanese with a dearth of tanks. They eventually found a replacement, using their relationship with the Allies following their intervention in Korea to secure the manufacturing rights to the American M48 Grizzly Medium Tank. If there was one good thing that came out of the spectacular failure that was the Kazan, it was that the Japanese made great improvements in their armoured brigades over the following years, having learned from the lesson of the Kazan, something which would be to the Soviets' detriment during the Third World War. Model 30 Tsunami Tank Main Article: Tsunami Tank Type 90 Jishin Main Battle Tank In the wake of the disaster that was the Type 48 Kazan, the Japanese scrambled for another tank to replace it. Rather than attempt to develop another design that could end disastrously, it was instead decided to use Japan's then-friendly state of relations with the Allied Nations to procure the rights to manufacture a foreign tank design. The tank that was eventually chosen was the American M53 Franken (the Mastiff having been rejected due to its immense weight), notable for its somewhat unusual quad track configuration. The Japanese were quick to make several changes to the original design, such as the fitting of a primitive robotic suspension, a pair of remotely operated machine guns, and the installation of an electronic interface in the crew compartment, among other things. Naming the modified design the Type 90 Jishin, the resultant combination of Japanese technology and a solid design like the Franken resulted in an effective main battle tank, which, for a little while, suited Japan's purposes. However, unsatisfied by the performance of the Jishin as it was, the Japanese would trial numerous configurations of the Jishin, from designs that sported twin 100mm guns (emulating the Soviet Anvil) to tank destroyers with fixed mount 140mm cannons. One of the most promising of these was a variant that sported twin plasma cutters. Eventually, the Japanese would replace the Jishin with the Model 30 Tsunami Tank in 1964, deeming the latter superior due to its amphibious capabilities. Even so, the Jishin was not to be forgotten, as the Japanese would reactivate the plasma cutter variants when the Soviets launched an offensive to reclaim Eastern Siberia. So successful was this variant that the Japanese reactivated its entire force of Jishin Tanks, converting them to the revamped Model 123 Jishin Buster Tank variant after the war. Model 123 Jishin Buster Tank Main Article: Jishin Buster Tank Model 01 Isha Vector Jet Tank Main Article: Isha Vector Jet Tank Model 0810 Izanagi Devastator Tank Main Article: Izanagi Devastator Tank Category:Lore